TPG Special Situations Partners Kensington Update - 1B (2295C)

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RNS Number : 2295C

TPG Special Situations Partners

15 January 2015

KENSINGTON UPDATE - 1B

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Funds managed and/or advised by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities ("Blackstone") and by TPG Special Situations Partners ("TSSP") announce that, pursuant to:

   (1)   the announcement of 9 September 2014 regarding the agreement to acquire Kensington Group plc ("Kensington") and certain mortgage and financial assets (altogether, the "Transaction Group") from subsidiaries of Investec plc ("Investec"), and 

(2) the Investec announcement of 19 December 2014 that the required anti-trust and regulatory approvals for the sale of the Transaction Group have been received and the sale is expected to close on 30 January 2015,

Blackstone and TSSP intend that following completion of the acquisition, Kensington, as part of its ongoing funding, issue residential mortgage-backed transactions in the coming months, subject to market conditions.

Further Information:

Kensington has been a leading player in the UK specialist residential and buy-to-let mortgage market since its establishment in 1994. Kensington was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 2000 until 2007.

Blackstone and TSSP are acquiring Kensington for an equity purchase price of GBP180 million. More broadly, following completion of the acquisition, Blackstone and TSSP plan to develop Kensington's mortgage lending business and broader speciality finance capabilities. They plan to maintain the business tangible NAV at a minimum of GBP300 million (more than doubling Kensington's existing equity capitalisation), and are appointing Ian Henderson as Group Chief Executive (previously Chief Executive of leading specialist bank Shawbrook) to lead that strategy.

For enquiries:

Blackstone

Andrew Dowler

[phone]

TSSP

Charlie Harrison

[phone]

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with almost $300 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities business employs an opportunistic, multi-asset class investment strategy focused on special situations investments. Tactical Opportunities seeks to invest globally in opportunities throughout the capital structure. The strategy leverages the deep synergies and experience that exist across Blackstone's leading alternative asset and advisory platform to generate attractive opportunities.

About TPG Special Situations Partners

TPG Special Situations Partners ("TSSP") is the dedicated credit and special situations platform of TPG, a leading global private investment firm. TSSP manages over $10 billion and includes the TPG Opportunities Partners, TPG Specialty Lending and TPG Institutional Credit Partners platforms. TSSP has extensive experience with global public and private investments executed through primary originations, secondary market purchases and restructurings.

TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with $66 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. The firm's investments span a variety of industries including financial services, travel and entertainment, technology, energy, industrials, retail, consumer, real estate, media and communications, and healthcare.

For more information visit www.tpg.com

DISCLAIMER

THE ABOVE ANNOUNCEMENT IS A COMMUNICATION TO THE MARKET. NOTHING IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE IN ANY JURISDICTION. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A PROSPECTUS OR A PROSPECTUS EQUIVALENT DOCUMENT.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO YOU ON THE BASIS THAT YOU ARE A PERSON INTO WHOSE POSSESSION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY BE LAWFULLY DELIVERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE JURISDICTION IN WHICH YOU ARE LOCATED AND YOU MAY NOT, NOR ARE YOU AUTHORISED TO, DELIVER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT TO ANY OTHER PERSON. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IN JURISDICTIONS OTHER THAN THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY BE RESTRICTED BY LAW AND THEREFORE PERSONS INTO WHOSE POSSESSION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT COMES SHOULD INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT, AND OBSERVE, SUCH RESTRICTIONS. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE RESTRICTIONS MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.

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